Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog. It's a great way to share information about a forthcoming book with other readers.
This week's anticipated book:
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Publication Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Preorder now from online and bricks and mortar bookstores
Enjoy life with books...
Catherine
Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader
Waiting on Wednesday: Transatlantic was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.
From barnesandnoble.com:
In the National Book Award–winning Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann thrilled readers with a marvelous high-wire act of fiction that The New York Times Book Review
called "an emotional tour de force." Now McCann demonstrates once again
why he is one of the most acclaimed and essential authors of his
generation with a soaring novel that spans continents, leaps centuries,
and unites a cast of deftly rendered characters, both real and imagined.
Newfoundland, 1919. Two
aviators—Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown—set course for Ireland as they
attempt the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, placing
their trust in a modified bomber to heal the wounds of the Great War.
Dublin, 1845 and '46. On an
international lecture tour in support of his subversive autobiography,
Frederick Douglass finds the Irish people sympathetic to the
abolitionist cause—despite the fact that, as famine ravages the
countryside, the poor suffer from hardships that are astonishing even to
an American slave.
New York, 1998. Leaving behind a
young wife and newborn child, Senator George Mitchell departs for
Belfast, where it has fallen to him, the son of an Irish-American father
and a Lebanese mother, to shepherd Northern Ireland's notoriously
bitter and volatile peace talks to an uncertain conclusion.
These three iconic crossings are
connected by a series of remarkable women whose personal stories are
caught up in the swells of history. Beginning with Irish housemaid Lily
Duggan, who crosses paths with Frederick Douglass, the novel follows her
daughter and granddaughter, Emily and Lottie, and culminates in the
present-day story of Hannah Carson, in whom all the hopes and failures
of previous generations live on. From the loughs of Ireland to the
flatlands of Missouri and the windswept coast of Newfoundland, their
journeys mirror the progress and shape of history. They each learn that
even the most unassuming moments of grace have a way of rippling through
time, space, and memory.
The most mature work yet from an incomparable storyteller, TransAtlantic
is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that
grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with each passing year.
My thoughts: McCann spoke about his new novel last month at a Random House Open House event and captivated the audience. I came away with an advanced reader copy and am looking forward to immersing myself in this author's lyrical prose and creative storytelling.
Enjoy life with books...
Catherine
Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader
Waiting on Wednesday: Transatlantic was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.
The day began with the perspectives of a debut novelist, Lauren Graham, the actress best known for her roles in the series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, who spoke about her recently released book, Someday, Someday, Maybe.
Alex Guarnaschelli gave a candid and entertaining look at her cooking experiences and Food Network appearances, as well as insights into writing her cookbook, Old-School Comfort Food.
R.J. Palacio, author of Wonder, and Emily Bazeldon, author of Sticks and Stones, discussed the topic of bullying.